Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/205395
040 Icon Lauren Cohen_Carmel Mag 10/27/13 5:01 PM Page 1 icon Lauren Cohen MY Museum Executive Director, Mother and Absolute Dynamo L auren Cohen radiates so much productive energy that even when she's calmly leading you on a tour of Monterey County Youth Museum, you feel the wheels turning. A CSU Monterey Bay graduate, she worked as a student teacher by day, then at nights took a shift at Tarpy's Restaurant, because, she says, "I can't sit still." She has been at the helm of the popu- lar children's museum since the late 1990s when it was located in a small facility next to a Cannery Row parking garage. Balancing motherhood of Emma, 2, and Zach, 7, with the help of husband Craig Vershaw— who works as an IT specialist—Cohen also sits on the board of several other nonprofits. Since 2008, MY Museum has been located in an impressive facility on Washington Street in downtown Monterey. Cohen raised $3 million for the capital campaign. It's an unlikely success story, especially since she had no fundraising experience, but Cohen says, "I didn't think we could fail because I really believed in it." Exhibits are tied in with local themes: "We built it as a microcosm of what makes Monterey County special." Local donors support exhibits ranging from agriculture, to the ocean, to a hospital. Kids can dress up, learn how tractors plow a field, stomp on pretend wine grapes and go to sea in a make-believe boat. A "creation station" offers an abundance of materials for children to make crafts. "We are providing an environment for children to be children," Cohen says. "…So often we try to busy them so they can grow up quicker than they need to, but we forget play is a child's work…Studies show if children under age 5 participate in make-believe play, they have a better chance of graduating from high school and going to college...They can see themselves 40 Photo: Kelli Uldall in a different way." C ARMEL M AG A Z I N E • H O L I D AY 2013 — Brett Wilbur